Hardened earthworking tips or teeth, such as those employed on rippers, scarifiers and loader buckets, must be held securely in place on a support member and yet be capable of expeditious removal for replacement purposes. Loss of the tip will subject the support member or adapter therefor to damage, thus requiring rather expensive and time consuming replacement thereof. Also, when a hardened tip is employed in conjunction with a rock crushing operation, for example, loss of the tip could cause severe damage to the rock crushing equipment should it become digested thereby.
Conventional retaining means for securing various work tools, such as hardened tips or teeth, in place on conventional earthworking equipment are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,994,140; 3,274,908 and 3,624,827. The latter two patents are assigned to the assignee of this application.